Verse for the Day:Matthew 6:30-34 30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.34 “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. (The Message)

Do you remember a song by Bobby McFerrin released in 1988 entitled "Don't Worry, Be Happy" I think it could be the theme song for today’s scripture verse. Are you someone who worries a lot? I have known a few people over the years that seem to worry about everything, If I didn't know better I would think their name was "Chick-Little", because almost everything in their lives seem to be uncertain and every event leads them to think the sky is falling, the end is near or something bad is going to happen. They live their lives in what appears to be continuous fear and worry about what tomorrow holds.

Prior to the fall of mankind when Adam and Eve broke the one and only rule God had given them (not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge found in the middle of the garden) there was no such thing as worry. Just think about it, in the beginning Adam was all alone in the Garden with no helper and no companion before God created Eve to help him. He had to care for the garden and come up with thousands of names for all the animals, birds, fish and all the creatures on which God had or was creating. And not once was there any mention of stress or worry on Adam's part in the Bible. You give someone a job title or task like that today with no helper or assistant, I guarantee you there would be worry, stress and probably a whole lot of complaining going on in their life.

Worry seems to be in everyone's DNA now-a-days. We worry about everything from our kids when they're late getting home, our jobs, our income, our safety (911 definitely changed that), retirement, our health, what we eat or don't eat, how we look, smell and feel-- there seem to be an endless list of the things we worry about now-a-days.

Well, I wish I could say with 100% confidence that I was worry free from all of life's concerns but I would be lying to you. I still worry about my kids, grandkids, other family members and friends. I worry about their wellbeing physically, financially and most of all their spiritual health. Do they trust in The Lord, have they truly excepted Jesus as Lord and Savior over their life? While I worry about these things from time to time there is something else that I think about even more. Have I done my part to live my life in such a way that reveals, promotes, encourages and leads others to Christ - have I been Christ like to others, putting their needs ahead of mind. The answer usually comes back that I probably could have done more. But this is where we have to be careful not to allow satan to use our missed opportunities or short coming as a way to discourage, derail, compromise or distract us from God’s purpose for our lives.

When we allow satan to manipulate our thinking and we get so worried about the future, past mistakes or what’s next we end up forgetting to live for today. What does the Lord’s prayer say? “Give us our daily bread” Matthew 6:11 It doesn’t say anything about tomorrow, next week, next year or in the future. It says our daily bread. And yet too many people today are too busy making a living and so worried about tomorrow they forget to live for today. I believe when we put too much focus on the future and worry about our tomorrows, we actually rob ourselves of the blessing God wants to give us today - the blessing of our family, our friends and life in general on a daily basis.

I personally don’t know of one person that hasn’t had a little DNA of worry at some point run through their body. Is that a bad or good thing? It all depends on what you do with it. If worry consumes you with fear like Chicken Little then it’s not from God. I don’t know what your worries are today but I pray you will take it to the Lord and lay it at His feet and ask Him to help you live your life one day at a time for His glory. Jesus is ready, willing and able to help you overcome your worries if you will allow Him to. So, Don’t Worry Be Happy in the Lord and He will give you peace like you’ve never experienced before. Philippians 4:7 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.